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Cards jump on Bucs early, roll to triumph

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jon Jay and Matt Holliday each had two hits and two RBIs as the St. Louis Cardinals jumped on the Pittsburgh Pirates early in a 10-6 victory Monday night.

Allen Craig doubled and drove in three runs for the Cardinals, who knocked around James McDonald (1-2) with a seven-run second inning. McDonald gave up eight runs, three earned, and walked two in 1 1-3 innings, the shortest start of his career.

Lance Lynn (2-0) labored through five innings to get the win. Lynn allowed four runs, walking three and striking out four.

Starling Marte had three hits and Neil Walker homered for the Pirates, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.

McDonald began the season hoping to recapture the form he showed in the first half of 2012, when he nearly made the All-Star team. He pitched well in his first start and then overcame a shaky first inning in Arizona last week — when he allowed four runs before getting three outs — to pick up the win.

The right-hander again struggled to get out of the first inning, allowing St. Louis to grab an early 1-0 lead, an advantage that could have been much larger if the Cardinals hadn’t run themselves into unnecessary trouble.

The Pirates bounced back to tie it in the bottom half on a run-scoring single by Garrett Jones, only this time McDonald was unable to collect himself on a night when his velocity and command seemed off. Normally his fastball hovers in the 93-94 mph range but only one of his 46 pitches reached 92 mph, and the Cardinals pounced.

Pete Kozma led off the second with a ground-rule double, and things kept getting worse for the Pirates. Jay smacked a two-run double and a rare throwing error by shortstop Clint Barmes allowed the Cardinals to extend the inning. St. Louis didn’t let the miscue go to waste, adding five more runs — including a two-run double by Craig — before Pirates manager Clint Hurdle mercifully pulled McDonald, who walked off the mound to a chorus of boos.

Lynn didn’t exactly sparkle. Staked to a 10-1 lead after a two-run double by Holliday off reliever Bryan Morris in the third, Lynn seemed uncomfortable. Walker hit his first homer of the season to help get Pittsburgh within six runs, and the Pirates put two runners on in both the fourth and the fifth but couldn’t chase Lynn.

The right-hander needed 99 pitches — and a pep talk in the fifth from pitching coach Derek Lilliquist — to get his way through 15 outs. It was a rare so-so performance by a St. Louis starter. The Cardinals began the three-game series with the best ERA by their starters (1.99) in baseball. St. Louis tossed 39 consecutive shutout innings last week before losing to Milwaukee in 10 innings on Sunday to snap a four-game winning streak.

Still, the first-place Cardinals managed to avoid their second losing skid of the season.

Athletics 11, Astros 2

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Jed Lowrie drove in four runs and Tommy Milone won his third straight start as Oakland beat Houston.

Nate Freiman added a three-run homer and Brandon Moss had three RBIs for the A’s. Oakland also benefited from eight walks — four in the first inning by Houston starter Erik Bedard.

Carlos Pena had two hits for the Astros, who have lost three straight following a three-game winning streak.

Milone (3-0) had a season-high six strikeouts in 6 1-3 innings and didn’t walk a batter for the eighth time in his career. The left-hander has won five straight decisions dating to last season.

Reds 4, Phillies 2

CINCINNATI (AP) — Brandon Phillips drove in a pair of runs with a bases-loaded single in the eighth inning and the Cincinnati Reds ended their five-game losing streak by beating the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 on Monday night.

Cincinnati’s five-game slide matched its longest slump from last season, when it won the NL Central.

The Reds still didn’t hit much, but left-hander Cliff Lee helped them by letting in a run on a wild pitch in the seventh. Todd Frazier followed with a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.

Bronson Arroyo (2-1) gave up pinch-hitter Chase Utley’s two-run homer in the eighth, but Cincinnati rallied against the Philadelphia bullpen. The Reds loaded the bases against Jeremy Horst (0-1), and Phillips singled off Mike Adams to break the tie.

Aroldis Chapman retired all three batters he faced in the ninth for his third save in three tries. He threw 100 mph fastballs to Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard while fanning them to end it.

Red Sox 3, Rays 2

BOSTON (AP) — The Red Sox and Rays were making their way out of Fenway Park when two explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon were heard at the stadium.

The Red Sox beat the Rays 3-2 on an RBI double by Mike Napoli in the ninth inning Monday in Boston’s traditional Patriots Day morning game.

The game began at 11:05 a.m. and ended at about 10 minutes after 2 p.m. A little less than an hour after that, about a mile away, the explosions from Copley Square could be heard by those in and around Fenway — but not in the clubhouses where the teams were getting ready to leave.

Padres 6, Dodgers 3

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Padres pitcher Eric Stults hit a three-run homer and stuck around long enough to benefit from a two-run seventh inning as San Diego beat Los Angeles in the first game between the NL West rivals since their wild brawl last week.

There was no visible rancor between the teams on Jackie Robinson Day after Major League Baseball executive vice president Joe Torre called both managers to remind them of the context of the game, the 66th anniversary of Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier with the Dodgers.

Pinch-hitter Jesus Guzman singled while batting for Stults during the decisive rally and scored on a double-play grounder by Yonder Alonso. That came after Paco Rodriguez relieved Ronald Belisario (0-2) with the bases loaded and walked pinch-hitter Chris Denorfia to force in the tiebreaking run after getting ahead 0-2 in the count.

Stults (2-1) allowed three runs and nine hits in six innings. The former Dodgers left-hander hit his first major league homer with two outs in the second off Chad Billingsley.

Nationals 10, Marlins 3

MIAMI (AP) — Jordan Zimmermann pitched a six-hitter for his third victory of the season and Washington bounced back from a humbling weekend to beat Miami.

Ryan Zimmerman hit his first home run and had four RBIs to lead a 16-hit outburst. Zimmermann (3-0) struck out six, walked one and threw 102 pitches in his second career complete game.

The Nationals were outscored 18-5 while being swept in a three-game series at home against Atlanta. They took out any lingering frustration on the Marlins (2-11), who came into the game tied for the worst record in the majors.

The Nationals had six extra-base hits, including doubles on three consecutive pitches. Ian Desmond had four hits, including a pair of doubles. Tyler Moore drove in three runs.

Blue Jays 4, White Sox 3

TORONTO (AP) — Mark Buehrle pitched in and out of trouble into the seventh inning to beat his former team, J.P. Arencibia and Maicer Izturis hit solo homers and the Blue Jays topped the Chicago White Sox.

Buehrle (1-0) went 6 1-3 innings in his first career start against the White Sox, allowing two runs and nine hits. The left-hander walked two and struck out three.

Right-hander Gavin Floyd (0-3) remained winless as the slumping White Sox lost for the sixth time in seven games.

Twins 8, Angels 2

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Joe Mauer had a home run among his four hits and drove in three runs for the Minnesota Twins in an victory over the Angels on a cold, windy night that helped send several fly balls to the deepest parts of Target Field.

Kevin Correia (1-1) earned his first American League win after finishing seven innings for the third time in as many starts with the Twins, getting two double-play grounders to help him limit the Angels to solo home runs by Peter Bourjos and former Twins utility infielder Brendan Harris.

Angels starter Joe Blanton (0-3) was battered again for nine hits, one walk and four runs in 4 2-3 innings. Mauer doubled and scored in the first and led off the fifth inning with a homer to left-center. Trevor Plouffe also went deep off Blanton, and Justin Morneau drove in a run with a double.